WASHINGTON, DC: The Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association, Inc. (PRSSA) endorsed President Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court seat vacated by Justice David Souter, Sonia Sotomayor, because she would reaffirm the engraving on the entrance to the High Court: “Equal Justice Under Law”. The Second Circuit of Appeals judge described her appointment as the “most humbling honor” of her life, a feeling that will likely echo with the Puerto Rican population on the island as well as in the continental U.S.

Sotomayor would become the first Hispanic appointee to the Supreme Court, as well as the third woman justice. The Senate Judiciary Committee seems likely to approve her nomination for a vote on the Senate floor promptly and the President expects her to be confirmed by next July, just in time to join the other justices in deciding which cases they will tend to next year.

Whereas to the Puerto Rico status debate, it is unclear where Sotomayor stands. An article from the Yale Law Journal titled: Statehood and the Equal Footing Doctrine: A Case for Puerto Rican Seabed Rights shows a seemingly pro-statehood stance in her analysis of Puerto Rico’s prospective admission as a State.

Regardless of her stance, it is still incredibly relevant to the status issue that at least one out of eight Justices has an explicit interest in the self-determination process for Puerto Rico. PRSSA will report to its members, as well as state and nationwide press, on any developments in this matter.

PRSSA is a not-for-profit student organization dedicated to the promotion of Puerto Rico status research and education, as well as the partaking of youth in the democratic process.